Requirements and solutions for the automation of test cells and test fields in automotive testing environments

Time goals, becoming shorter and shorter, and increasing demands for quality for the development of vehicles and their components ask for new methods to handle the various tasks in this area. The growing complexity of those tasks requires very good support for the users and operators by involved tools and systems. Ideally, those systems are highly integrated and build a closed, seamlessly cooperating chain of tools to support the entire development process. Besides the activities directly related to the test cell, an increasing number of administrative and overall tasks come into focus more and more. This paper introduces today's and tomorrow's requirements to a test cell and its environment combined with a discussion of appropriate solutions. The variability of a modern diesel engine, the positioning of the systems in the company overview, error indicators and problem reporting in a modern automation system such as FEV's TestCellManager, a modular approach for a test cell automation system, the general situation in a test cell based on appropriate system architecture, the systems in a test field according to functional layers, a modular approach for test field management systems, test field overview provided by the FEV's TestFieldManager are presented in the paper.